Page 80 of The Duke and the Hellion Bride

“Your wife!” Lord Herrod cackled. “Not for long! She is mine! Or she will be, once we are away from here! Now, I am warning you for the last time, be gone!”

“No!” Diana cried out. She looked caught between thoughts; half-reaching for him as if to save her, half looking at Lord Herrod, terrified of what he might do.

“What did I say!” Lord Herrod stormed toward Diana and grabbed her by the arm. “Inside, now!”

And that was all Magnus needed to see.

Rage flared inside of him so hot he honestly worried his horse might catch alight. Done from the horse he jumped, striding quickly in the direction of Lord Herrod who was in the process of dragging his wife toward the carriage.

“Get in!” he snarled in her face.

“No! Please!”

“Unhand my wife!” Magnus demanded.

“As I said --” Lord Herrod turned back to spit contempt at Magnus, but he never had a chance to finish the thought.

Magnus did not hesitate. Without breaking stride, he curled his hand into a tight fist, brought back his arm, and then drove his knuckles clean into the uppity lord’s large nose with a tremendous thwack.

“Argh!” Lord Herrod cried out. He kept a hold of Diana’s arm as he stumbled, but another hard punch, again right in the nose, saw him release her as he fell back and landed in the dirt. “My nose! You broke my nose!”

“Be glad that is all I broke!”

“You will pay for this!”

Again, Magnus was caught in two minds. Diana stood there in a state of shock; eyes wide to see Magnus having punched Lord Herrod squarely as he had. And oh, how he wanted to go to her. To wrap her in his arms. To kiss her. To apologize and beg for forgiveness because this was all his fault.

On the other hand, Lord Herrod was deserving of more than a few simple punches, and how very much he wished to hammer that point home.

Lucky that again, Lord Herrod saved him having to choose.

“You’ve made a grave mistake,” her snarled from the ground as he scrambled to his knees. “Those little brats of yours! I warned you! I warned --”

“What did you say!” Magnus was on him. Miss Goldsmith had told him of the threat that Lord Herrod had levelled at Diana, but to hear it uttered from the man’s mouth, and so freely, was more than he could handle. He threatened their safety. He laughed in the face of Magnus’ brother in so doing. All Magnus had done for them, all he had promised, was laid bare and exposed and in that moment, he realized that he would very well kill Lord Herrod if he was left to it.

“I said – owe!”

Magnus grabbed the man by the back of the head and drove another fist into his face. He felt bones break against his knuckles, but he did not release the man’s head. Another punch, and another. He then drove his knee into the man’s stomach, and before he knew it his hands were around his neck... squeezing... squeezing...

Lord Herrod’s eyes turned wide, and his face went purple. He grabbed a hold of Magnus’ arms, trying to pull them free. But it was no use, such was Magnus’ rage that nothing in this world could stop him.

Well, almost nothing...

“Magnus...” A soft hand rested on his shoulder. “Magnus,” the voice spoke again, a balm in his ear. “Leave him. He is not worth it.”

Magnus came to suddenly, realizing what he was doing. He looked down at Lord Herrod, his face purple and swollen, the life draining from him. Then he looked at Diana, her expression soft and caring. She was not judging him. She was not scared for him. She simply wanted him to stop because it was over, they had own, and Lord Herrod could hurt them no longer.

He released Lord Herrod immediately. The man cried out and fell into the dirt.

Next, he turned so he was facing Diana. Now that it was just he and her, the adrenaline of the moment rescinding, he felt a momentary stab of panic. He had thought long and hard about what he was going to say when he arrived, the apology he needed to give, the love he had to appraise her with. But the words caught on his tongue...

“Magnus...” Diana licked her lips, looking away sheepishly. Her cheeks flushed red and she fidgeted furiously. “I... I need to apologize for what I said.”

Magnus blinked. “Apologize?”

“I did not mean it,” she said, forcing herself now to look at him. Her eyes brimmed with tears, and she might have been the most beautiful creature of all time, were it not for how upset she was. “Truly, I did not. I had no choice. Lord Herrod... he threatened the girls, and I would do anything for them. I should have told you. I wish that I had! And it was only after I said those things to you that I... that I... that I.... what? Why are you smiling?”

Am I? Magnus hadn’t even realized that he was.

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